Student Surveys
In order to deliver the best possible student experience, it is important that the University gathers regular and detailed information about the UoA experience, which can be used to monitor, develop and improve the student experience.
Students provide feedback about their experience at the University of Aberdeen, through a number of national and institutional surveys such as the NSS, Graduate Outcomes Survey, Aberdeen Student Experience Survey, Digital Experience Survey etc. In addition, many departments create their own ad-hoc surveys to gather non-academic feedback which are shared through their own channels.
As an institution, it is essential that we streamline our efforts to engage with students to avoid feedback fatigue.
All student surveys must be approved by the Survey Feedback Group to allow a more coordinated approach to surveying students, and to facilitate the sharing of information that has already been harnessed elsewhere.
- Process for Surveys
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If you would like to request a survey of students, you should complete this online form to:
- Outline the purpose of your survey
- Tell us which student groups you would like feedback from
- Upload your proposed question set in a Word document
On submission of this form, your request will be reviewed by the Survey Feedback Group and a decision will normally be provided within 7 working days.
- Timeframes
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You should submit your survey request form as early as possible, allowing at least 6 weeks before submitting your request and your proposed go live date.
- Data sharing / Existing Information
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The student Survey Feedback Group will review your request to ensure effective sharing of existing information. If similar data has already been gathered within a 12-month period, this will be shared with the requesting department and your survey request will be closed.
- Gathering Personal Information
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Please refrain from gathering personal data or protected characteristics (name, email address, gender, race etc) unless they are essential to the purpose of your survey.
If this information is not essential to the purpose of your survey it should not be gathered, or should only be included as optional.
- Your Survey Questions
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- To encourage engagement with your survey, please keep the number of questions to a minimum. Ideally, your survey should take no longer than 2 minutes to complete. Note: A 10-question survey takes on average one minute to complete.
- Include a short introduction to the survey and how the information gathered will be used. You should only use the data gathered for this purpose and delete it when it is no longer required.
- Refrain from gathering personal data or protected characteristics (name, email address, gender, race etc) unless they are essential to the purpose of your survey.
- If you intend to contact students after the survey, you should seek their consent to do so in your survey.
- Survey questions will be reviewed, and if necessary, amended by the Student Survey Review Group to ensure good practice and compliance with data protection regulations.
- A link to the student privacy agreement must be included in your survey.
- Issuing your survey
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The Experience, Engagement and Wellbeing Team will liaise with you about survey creation and distribution.
- Contacting Respondents
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If you intend to contact students after the survey, you should seek their consent to do so in your survey.
- Closing the Feedback Loop
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When your survey is completed and you’ve analysed the data, you should close the feedback loop by sharing any changes or improvements that have been implemented as a result of student feedback.
You can submit this information through the Student Communications Contributions form or by emailing studentlife@abdn.ac.uk.
- Survey Schedule
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Survey Schedule
An overview of student surveys planned this year can be found on the Student Voice web page. This list is updated regularly throughout the year.